a comparative seroprevalence study of toxocariasis in hypereosinophilic and apparently healthy individuals

Background:parasitic invasion of tissues can elicit hypereosinophilia. among helminthic infections, moderate to severe eosinophilia can be seen in toxocariasis as a pathophysiological response to a worm infection.objectives:the current study aimed to compare the rate of toxocariasis in normal and hypereosinophilic individuals in shiraz, southern iran.patients and methods:serum samples of 100 patients with hypereosinophilia ( > 10%) and 100 normal individuals (without eosinophilia) were collected. demographic information of the participants was recorded in a predesigned questionnaire during sample collection. antitoxocara antibodies in the subjects’ serum were evaluated by an elisa.results:in the hypereosinophilic patients, 54 (54%) were male, and 46 (46%) were female, while in the normal individuals, 58 cases (58%) were male, and 42 (42%) were female. the differences in gender and age of the participants were insignificant (p = 0.46 and 0.59 respectively). range of eosinophilia found in the patients was between 1077%. antitoxocara antibodies were detected in the serum of 2 (2%) of the hypereosinophilic patients and 3 (3%) of the normal individuals. no significant correlation was found between hypereosinophilia and the presence of antitoxocara antibodies in this study (p = 0.65).conclusions:hypereosinophilia may be due to a variety of reasons and toxocariasis is just one of these. appropriate tests should be carried out on patients in order to rule out a toxocara infection in hypereosinophilic individuals.